■ ^15" 



E 312 ^.. ' 

.63 ^^-^ 

Copy 1 .'v^' 



^ THE FOLLOWOG ADDRESS, 

Delivered at Albany, February 22, 1858, by the late 
COL. WILLIAM A. JACKSON, 

Of the Eighteenth Regiment of New-York Volunteers, 

Is presented as a memento of him to the Officers and Privates of 
tlie Regiment, by their friend Professor Jackson. 

Fellow-Citizens : 
I PROPOSE to speak to you of the Patriot Soldier. 

I can conceive of no subject more appropriate 
to the day, which the Union with a single voice 
dedicates to the memory of one, whose life and 
virtues pronounce him to be the Father of the 
Republic. 

The soldier acts an important part in the 
destiny of nations. From time immemorial, the 
supremacy of great principles, the progress of 
reforms, the elevation of popular ideas, have 
found their sustaining power in the sword. 

The patriot soldier, thus reminded by history 
of the part he may be called to assume, should 
remember that he is the conservator of what is 
right in the present, the guardian of truth yet 
to be developed; and that he should so act, 
think, and labor, as to render himself the man 
of the times, prompt in thought, ready in 
action, fearless in the discharge of duty. 



JOH 



r3(^ 

— 2 — 

The first principle of the soldier's education 
is the resolution of all individual feelings and 
passions into the single idea of the full and 
proper, discharge of the duties of his position. 
He must learn that he is but a unit in the com- 
position of a force. He must never forget that 
efficacy and completeness of action are only 
ensured by singleness of purpose. 

To accomplish this result, the soldier must 
forget himself, must banish all trivial thoughts 
from his mind, and make duty the pole star of 
his life. He, then, must be unselfish : his plea- 
sures, his feelings, his passions, however stimu- 
lated, must yield a graceful submission to the 
imperative principle of duty. 

To abnegate self is difficult, but it is equally 
heroic ; and he who obtains the victory has 
won but the first of a long series of battles, 
whose procession accumulates glory for his 
name, and, still better, awards the noble satis- 
faction of a well spent life. 

Actuated by this idea, obstacles disappear, 
dangers vanish, and ambition and enthusiasm 
are thoroughly aroused. The true heroes of the 
world give you their examples. They fought 
and conquered in life, because they resolved all 



— 3 — 

thought of self into the one idea of duty. In 
death, they still live, because the meed of glory 
belongs to him alone whose duty was the para- 
mount object of his life. You may find them 
upon every field, in every rank, of every tongue. 
Roman or Grecian, Gaul, Briton, or American, 
they close around us, a phalanx, whose front is 
always towards the enemy, and never broken. 
The soldier who emulates such examples, comes 
to regard his duty as a pleasure, not a task : 
he performs it because it is right, not because 
honor or emolument will be the result. In its 
discharge he anticipates no reward ; but, for its 
proper fulfilment, reward will seek him out. 

The patriot soldier, devoted to the perform- 
ance of his duty for its sake alone, will be en- 
thusiastic in his devotion to his cause, and true 
to the preferment of its interests. He will be 
the man of principle. He will never forget those 
innate sentiments of honor implanted in every 
heart. His enthusiasm will be based upon truth. 
Duty and interest will be one, and no detail of 
his service, no requirement of his country will 
be neglected. Then indeed is the heart in the 
cause : then is there a motive to exertion, which 
will render it invincible. 



— 4 — 

Men may be drilled to move and fight with 
the exactitude of machines ; but without this 
enthusiasm springing from these causes, they 
are mere automata. With this motive in the 
heart of every soldier, the mass is a unit : then 
superiority of force cannot defeat, though it may 
exterminate. Thermopylae, ChaBronia, Waterloo, 
present you their examples of devoted squares 
never broken, never yielding, till the protracted 
agony of battle closed upon a field, where death 
could claim no more. The enthusiasm of the pa- 
triot soldier, fully persuaded of the rectitude of 
his cause, feeling that he has left unperformed 
no requirement of his calling, finds no obstacle 
in the presence of an enemy : skilful disposition 
of forces does not overawe him, fearful odds 
dismay him not ; they are but inducements to 
more strenuous exertions, and each man fights 
as if upon his efibrts depended the safety of the 
army and the ultimate possession of the field. 
Such soldiers were the Hollanders of William 
the Silent, fighting for religious freedom amid 
the tumbling walls and ruined homes of their 
besieged cities : such the Ironsides of Crom- 
well, sternly fighting for a Christian Common- 
wealth : such the Patriots of '76, fighting for 



— 5 — 

the liberty we now enjoy ; such the men of the 
Empire, fighting for the glory of France and 
the progress of thought. These men had a de- 
finite purpose, and preserved a unity of senti- 
ment which was the element of their success. 
They possessed those soldiery instincts and 
qualities which proceed from love of duty and 
enthusiasm in its discharge. Each soldier filled 
properly his sphere; and all moving from a 
common center in the harmonious pursuance of 
a single purpose, they astounded the world by 
exploits which will remain unrivalled, until, 
the times " once more out of joint," popular 
necessities shall evoke the dormant talents of 
men, born to organize, to conquer, to reform. 
But if the times do not require the immediate 
rivalry of those great deeds, the memory of 
which thrills every soul with admiration, they 
do require, and love of country, of hearthstone, 
requires, that we should never cease the " note 
of preparation ;" that we should never forget, 
as citizen soldiers, to emulate those men, who 
have bequeathed to all coming ages examples 
of chivalry, of fortitude, of patient suffering and 
heroic valor. In such emulation, there is no hero 
worship. We do not offer the mere man as an 



— 6 — 

example, but his great qualities, his good ac- 
tions, his love for humanity, his hatred of the 
wrong. 

Time is ever exhibiting men becoming heroic 
in the simple discharge of duty : the nameless 
graves of every battle-field attest it. Even now 
English voices send from the sultry plains of 
India the names of Neil and Nicholson, and 
swell the panegyric and the dirge in mournful 
unison over the tomb of Havelock. 

There is heroism in every profession of life, 
and the soldier may find much to emulate in the 
quiet unassuming courage which consecrates 
more peaceful avocations than his own. He sees 
it in the frontiersman, lighting the torch of 
civilization in the far West ; in the reformer, 
enduring ridicule and persecution ; in the ma- 
riner, braving the storm of the Tropics, or 
bursting the icy barriers of the Poles. And 
where, citizens of Albany, can you find a nobler 
fortitude, a higher chivalry, a greater heroism, 
than in the calm courage of one, who lately 
walked our streets, a citizen of ours, who, in 
the awful hour of impending death, when the 
prison-house of the elements was opened, and 
they battled in their fury over the Central 



America, stood at the post of duty, firm, un- 
daunted, and went down bravely with his 
sinking ship, true to the instincts of his noble 
nature — Charles Van Rensselaer. 

The world is filled with the history of heroes; 
and be they explorers or reformers, mariners 
or soldiers, men of peace or men of battle, their 
deeds are the heritage of the world, and it were 
ungrateful not to enjoy the gift by profiting by 
the example. 

If the soldier is unselfish and enthusiastic in 
the discharge of his duty, he will avoid the 
bane of every avocation, jealousy. Rivalry of the 
proper kind is open, frank and generous : it does 
not seek renown in the discomfiture of others, 
but in its own superiority. A generous rivalry 
never wounds, but lends a helping hand to him 
who has failed in the struggle. In the great 
efforts of life, it does not attempt to retard 
competition, but, to render its own victory 
complete, invites and encourages it. On the 
battle-field, the brave and generous soldier, fully 
alive to his own responsibilities, quickens the 
energy of one, stimulates the faltering sense of 
duty in another, and permeates all who surround 
him with the vitality of his own purpose. When 



— 8 — 

the trumpets sound the charge, he not only- 
nerves himself to the full execution of his duty, 
but infuses among his comrades that hopefulness 
of spirit, which enables every one, amid the 
carnage of the battle, to sustain the honor of 
his cause and the dignity of his manhood. 

Mere physical courage, without moral force, 
cannot prove the successful champion of any 
cause. The great soldiers of the world who have 
accomplished important results for humanity, 
were men who established a standard of soldier- 
ly excellence, and not only satisfied themselves 
with its attainment, but impressed its necessity 
upon all who came within the sphere of their 
influence. The great underlying principle of this 
standard is that which invests it with a moral 
force, unhesitating discharge of duty. What ho- 
nor is to every man, what virtue is to woman, 
is the strict performance of duty to the soldier. 
His duty is a jewel, whose rays brighten and 
make beautiful his life : it is a talisman of 
mighty power. The remembrance of its dis- 
charge soothes the dying soldier on the stricken 
field, whispers in his ear the meed of well- 
earned praise, tells him that the recompense of 
his valor shall be the tears of his countrymen. 



— 9 — 

What nobler epitaph can be graven upon the 
tomb of any man? What better eulogy pro- 
nounced upon his life, than the simple words 
" He did his duty ! " 

The qualities of which I have spoken are the 
necessary characteristics of every soldier who 
comprehends the true purpose of his calling. 
In the patriot soldier, whose mission it is to 
struggle for the supremacy of great principles, 
who is the gallant champion of an inVaded 
country or the fearless crusader of liberty, these 
qualities should find their most perfect develop- 
ment. He who maintains a great cause success- 
fully, is thoroughly imbued with the enthusiasm 
its principles beget. He who consecrates his 
sword to a holy purpose must be pure at heart, 
if he would identify himself with the principle 
for which he struggles. 

The mercenary can fight manfully and die 
heroically for his hire. He finds pleasure in the 
excitement and carnage of the battle : he looks 
not beyond the mere fact of success. In a great 
victory, he recognizes only the hand of his 
general, only the supremacy of brute force, and 
its highest results are to him the opportunities 
of destruction and pillage. 
2 



— 10 - 

If such motives can impel the display of 
courage, what must be the enthusiasm, the 
valor, the determination of one who fights for 
an idea which his heart has cherished, for that 
which reason and reflection have approved, for 
that which his better nature craves with all its 
strength ? 

The battle then is not the mere tournament 
of rival generals, not the mere concussion of 
opposing forces, not the mere display of courage 
or the gravity of brute strength ; but the grave 
contest of discordant ideas, the threshold of new 
systems, the effort to elevate or ameliorate the 
condition of a people, to avenge the wrongs of 
centuries, or restrain the license of a disordered 
sentiment. For such purposes are the exertions 
of the patriot soldier needed : to effect them, 
calls for the display of those qualities which 
constitute soldierly excellence. To be prepared 
when the time demands his services, requires 
of the patriot soldier a thorough study and 
appreciation of those duties which are in them- 
selves virtues, that tarnish or brighten as they 
are neglected or cultivated, and upon whose 
performance depends the stability of all govern- 
ments, the safety of all homes, the happiness 
of all people. 



— 11 — 

What a stimulus to the discharge of his duty- 
has the American Soldier ! The defence of a 
land where Freedom sits enthroned in the heart 
of the nation; where a beacon fire has been 
kindled, whose rays, shining steadily forth over 
the troubled earth, tell of an asylum for the 
oppressed, where the blessings of peace and 
liberty are inseparable, where contentment 
presides at the lowliest hearthstone, where 
prosperity is universal, because industry is 
untrammelled ; where production is assisted by 
government, not fettered by oppressive enact- 
ments ; where all are happy because all are 
free, and all are free because all appreciate their 
rights. 

Before the American Soldier is placed the 
example of those patriots whose labors created 
the system which it his duty to preserve. 

That army of freemen has nearly passed 
away. Here and there a solitary form, riven and 
blasted with the storms of a century, lingers in 
our midst, stately and venerable as an oak of 
the forest. 

Such an one is in our assembly to-day : John 
O'Brien Shenandoah, in whose memory, at the 
age of one hundred and six years, remain the 



— 12 — 

events of the revolution as fresh and vivid as 
though they were of yesterday. 

To the names of those patriots, our history 
has given immortality : our present greatness is 
their eulogy. Their mission was to scourge from 
the land the rapacious instruments of tyranny, 
to lift from the popular vision the blinding veil 
of despotism, to open a new era in the progress 
of humanity, by asserting the inalienable rights 
of man. Their mission was accomplished : this 
Great Union is at once the proof and the monu- 
ment of their services. 

As if Providence had deemed the crisis which 
evolved our liberty the most important the 
world yet had seen, and requiring in its deve- 
lopment the assistance of the grandest combi- 
nation of human virtues the mind can conceive, 
a man was provided for the emergency, who, 
in every sphere of life, whether as soldier or 
civilian, whether on the battle-field or in the 
cabinet, presented qualities so perfect in their 
adaptation to the times, so loyal to the great 
principles of truth and honor, that with one 
accord the voice of the nations has assigned 
him a place above all others, and speaks his 
name only with the accents of reverence and 
love. 



— 13 — 

The birth of that man we celebrate to-day. 
Twenty millions of people have his name upon 
their lips, and his memory in their hearts. 
There needs no monument, striking the stars, 
to tell us he has lived ; for the heart of every 
man in this broad land throbbed with a prouder 
pulsation, as this morning's sun arose to remind 
him that he was the countryman of Washington. 
The noblest tribute the American people can 
pay to the memory of Washington is to enshrine 
it in their hearts, by making his character the 
national type. To the soldier he presents the 
truest model of his profession. The qualities 
which render him such, the world knows and 
has approved ; but we, as a people, should not 
stop at approval : we should justify the decision 
by an adoption of those principles which were 
the basis of his efforts, and which he sought to 
incorporate in the structure of our government. 

The purest Republic that popular struggles 
have inaugurated was upheld in its infancy by 
the protecting arm of the purest man Heaven 
has given to Earth. He was a soldier, so just, 
so wise, so patriotic, so far removed from the 
influence of passion, so discriminating in his 
judgment, so wise in his counsels, so energetic 



— 14 — 

in action, so thoroughly the man of principle, 
so unselfish and generous in thought and word 
and deed, so actuated by the highest christian 
philosophy, so calm in danger, so utterly with- 
out fear and without guile, one to whom it 
seemed Nature had no more to give, that our 
humanity can hardly claim brotherhood with 
him in anything but death. 

It is this man, Citizens, whose virtues have 
made him the admiration of the world, that you 
have the proud privilege of calling countryman. 
It is this man, whose name stands first in the 
galaxy of great commanders, that you are called 
upon by the force of your nationality to select 
as your example. Washington is not too great 
to be imitated. He was sent by Providence, not 
only to conduct successfully our revolution, but 
to bequeath a character for the benefit of his 
country. 

My Countrymen : The position our nation 
has assumed, standing in fact the solitary Re- 
public of the World, proudly independent and 
defiant, jealously watched by eyes eager and 
willing to discover tokens of weakness and 
decay, calls upon each citizen of our land to 
practise those virtues, without which the plan 



— 15 — 

of self-government must be a failure. Your fu- 
ture happiness as a people, your individual 
sovereignty as citizens, your homes, your 
hearthstones, the coming manhood of your 
children ; all, all implore with one voice the 
preservation of that spotless national honor 
which Washington bequeathed to the keeping 
of your Fathers. 

Will their children betray their trust ? Will 
you, the voluntary defenders of that honor, 
permit your swords to tarnish with the rust 
of negligence? 

There can be but one response. The»temple 
of our liberties will remain the impregnable 
fortress of freedom ; the memories of our pa- 
triot soldiers will strengthen you for future 
struggles, and the name of Washington will be 
revered in the adoption of his virtues. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




011 895 976 



HoUinger 

pH8.5 

Mill Run F3.1 955 



